After a short hypnotherapy session, she would ask me this:

“Okay, so how was today?”

I finally opened my eyes, and found her sparkling aureate eyes. Her face was no more than a few inches in front of me. This was our nightly ritual.

Assessment and feedback.

To ensure I was fine for the day, and recovering from what she referred to as my ‘past traumas’.

But today was different. I distanced myself a little before responding to her.

“…Fine?”

My mind was clear. It’s an aftereffect that I’ve grown used to after every session.

It was a refreshing feeling, one that I would get when I was with her. She said it was some form of meditation where I alter my brainwaves. But I had no idea how to do it alone. The last time I tried, I had a panic attack.

It’s only when the session is done with her that the old memories don’t surface. Of course, this afterglow is only temporary. Once I wake up the next morning, I go back to my old self, drowning in a flood of black ink. The unending reasons that torment my mind.

Nevertheless, Rize-chan said in time, it’ll start changing for the better.

Though… I had no idea how changing something like that could be helpful. What’s the point in being optimistic when we evolved to be pessimistic, in order to survive?

With an expression that seemed to question my reaction today, she thrust her face closer to mine. I responded by creating more distance.

“Hey.”

“Mom, stop that…”

“Stop what?”

“Why do you always get so close…”

“What? But you’re my daughter aren’t you?”

I’m your daughter, yes. But this daughter of yours is already an adult. Treating me like SuBin or ChaDong would be uncomfortable.

“What’s going through your mind I wonder?”

Every step back, she takes two steps forward.

To leave her was impossible. To fight back against the only person whom I could depend on was worse. I… can’t do anything…

“Why are you acting like this today? What’s wrong, tell me.”

Why am I acting like this? Well, I heard DaHong-san say that you’re potentially lesbian. So I’ve become conscious of the way we act around ourselves. That’s why I’m acting like this.

And, I feel incredibly stupid that we indeed act as if we were actually so.

“T-That… it’s nothing.”

The fact that Rize-chan has never been married, was a true statement. Yet it was a lie to say that she hadn’t fallen in love.

I just didn’t know who the person was that she referred to in her diary. Was it a girl or a boy?

“Mwu.”

Rize-chan pouted.

I looked away with furrowed brows. You’ve already cornered me to a wall, why do you need to get any closer to me?

She squished my cheeks with both her hands. Her body leaned against mine, the warmth, the supple softness of her skin felt through the nightgown.

Her beating heart.

Fuck.

I swear I shouldn’t be blushing.

“I’ll keep pressing on you until you tell me.”

“Nwoo… it nowthing swewious…”

Is she aware of how she was treating me? What if DaHong-san was wrong? Actually, even if DaHong-san was right, do her actions imply that sort of love?

I mean, Hyeon-ssi himself showed me that impressions are different from reality. Just because stereotypes exist, doesn’t mean they’re necessarily true in all cases.

Rize-chan may be lesbian. A lesbian who doesn’t see me as anything but her daughter.

And frankly speaking, what kind of mother marries her daughter? Only someone insane could do something like that.

“…”

“…”

Oh. Right.

Mom is insane, isn’t she?

Help.

I glanced over her shoulder and saw Cinnamon the turtle watching us. I pleaded with my eyes. It seemed that he got the message.

Snap. Snap.

“Owh! Owh! Cinnamon—!”

Cinnamon bit Rize-chan’s neck from behind, providing me with the perfect window of escape.

“I-I’m just uncomfortable with how we’re too close, mom. It’s unbecoming of a parent-child relationship… that’s what I think.”

I yelped. Rize-chan eventually recovered from Cinnamon’s attack. The turtle in question was now sitting on her head.

She looked at me with a puffy expression. Pondering…

“Was your father distant to you when you were a child?”

“Huh? That’s not… what I mean…”

“So I take it that you and your father don’t have the best of relationships?”

Father was certainly a cold man. But…

“Then I dare say it’s due to the difference in parenting methods. I’m warm and prefer intimate contact. Not to judge families that prefer a formal manner of upbringing. Maybe you’re just not used to the way I want to treat my family. After all, you lacked a maternal figure in your life.”

“Uh…”

“I’ll try to respect your boundaries, that’s what it is right?”

Set boundaries.

Create distance.

Go away.

Disappear from my life.

I… didn’t mean it like that. I don’t want this to be a reason she distances herself from me.

What the hell am I even doing…? To request something when I clearly lack the right to do so?

“Alright. Thanks for letting me know.”

“T-That’s not it!”

“Aha?”

I stammered.

“Don’t… don’t leave me mom…”

Please…

“E-Eh?! I’m not leaving you anywhere! I’m right here, right?!”

…You idiot. Crying over such a tiny matter. I must be crazy. I’ve been crazy all along.

“There, there…”

Rize-chan stroked my back as I wailed.

Caringly.

Affectionately.

Just like a mother would.

-☆▫.-▫.｡.:* ▫⌎.☆\*: .｡ ▫.-

“Akane-san, your weekly junk is here!”

“What?!”

Akane peeked out of her room, almost tripping.

Flop. DaHong slapped the magazine on the table.

“There.”

“Hey! Careful with my stuff!”

He shrugged and walked away without saying anything.

“Hey, you…! Darn, the kind of bastard he is.”

Couldn’t he just hand it over nicely to her? Was there any reason to play each other like this?

“Jeez, and to think he of all people picked it up from the office for me…”

Akane was planning to take the issue when she returned to the lab tomorrow. Though it seemed that DaHong who passed by picked it up for her.

Journal of BioTec. The fortnightly magazine series related to the latest findings in quantum biology, prana, and sometimes thaumaturgy.

To Akane, this was the scientific equivalent of a porn magazine.

“Now then, what do we have here?”

Coming back inside her room with her freshly brewed cup of tea, she began with the first page.

“…The death of the proverbial Nereid, body went missing. Wait, hold up?! Since when?!”

Hwang EunHa. In the military world, she was regarded as the Hell General’s cursed daughter. The Harbinger of Death. The Devil.

In the scientific community however, she went by a different name.

The Nereid.

As the first, and only person capable of mobilising bioprana in her body, and to utilise it to perform feats that most humans could only dream of, Hwang EunHa was the marvel of the scientific community worldwide.

“The body, gone? Nothing to be dissected?”

The article in question discussed the conflicts in question between various political groups. Digging into things like ethics, and human rights.

“It’s not about what is moral or not. We have been dissecting creatures for as long as the epoch! And didn’t she agree to donate her body to science after her death?! How was it lost?!”

The loss of The Nereid’s body was not simply a matter of death. It was the loss of an entire study in science.

“Decided to end her life in Fortress 13 because she believed it would be for the best of humanity… now, isn’t this a surprising statement from the sergeant in charge of her death.”

People were even pulling schemes behind her back. Before her death, the only reason scientists couldn’t get their hands on The Nereid was due to her father’s great influence, and the War Saint’s intervention. They denied anything to be done to her experimentally when she was alive.

“Disgusting.”

And yet these two people did nothing to stop her suicide. In fact, they could’ve been the ones to have instigated it.

“They don’t even have the right to discuss morality.”

Akane took a sip of her tea as she leaned back on her chair. She sighed.

“That’s really disappointing. How can they have treated someone like that? Huh?”

Akane snapped back and reread the article one more time.

“Rize-chan’s last mission post was Fortress 13, wasn’t it? Then she should know something about it wouldn’t she…”

Slowly, as if the world began to shake, her eyes trembled.

“Body not found? Rize-chan adopted a daughter? And that daughter has a mysterious bioprana signature?”

She slowly turned towards the fish tank. The snapping Crazy Koi.

“Ah… no wonder Rize-chan calls her Eun-chan.”

Deduction was an important skill for any scientist.

◜\⌝▫◆▫.

The very next morning, I woke up without a nightmare.

It was still dark outside, but I didn’t wish to sleep anymore so I decided to get up and wash up first.

“Morning mom…”

I said silently to her, who was still asleep. I left the bedroom.

Downstairs, I saw the red-haired genius lofting around the sofa with her lab coat and clipboard in hand with some meticulous data.

“Morning Akane-san… going to the lab today?”

She glanced at me who just came down from the bedroom upstairs… and narrowed her eyes silently. Why?

Was there anything off about me? I checked my hair. It’s brown, could it be the bed hair…?

“Hwang EunHa.”

My body stiffened. That name…

“It was the biggest news in BioTec this past two weeks. They say her family will be holding a funeral for her with an empty casket.”

“…Who is that?”

That’s not me. Akane-san blew a quick sigh. Hwang EunHa is dead.

“Well, the scientific community refers to her as the one true Nereid. Experts have been dying to learn about her biology… yet to think they’d lose the corpse. What a waste. Studying her could’ve unlocked a lot of new knowledge.”

Right. EunHa’s death was indeed the most valuable thing she could provide to the world. She should’ve left her corpse behind.

I smiled.

“I see… it’s a real pity, isn’t it?”

It was a mysterious smile.

“Right, what a pity.”

Akane-san crossed her legs and bent over. Staring right into my eyes.

“Truly a pity.”

.- ▫☆\*: .｡ _ ▫.｡.:*☆▫.-⌎

⁛ Origin Year 138, 22nd of Yǔ.

I wasn’t sure if Akane-san realised it. But I was sure she had at least felt a suspicion—that Hwang EunHa was the me that left the world.

She left for the laboratory before I could confirm her thoughts. Now I was worried.

What if she revealed the truth? Even a small rumour would completely weed me out.

What should I do now?

“Ah? She found out? Well, it can’t be helped. She won’t tell anyone about it, don’t worry.”

Rize-chan waved off my worries as if they were irrelevant.

“Huh? H-How are you so sure?”

“That girl may look like a genius biologist, but she’s really just insecure about her achievements. She’d rather keep the information so that she can study you alone.”

“Is that so…”

“Yep. Though, just in case, I suppose I’ll tell her to keep it a secret since it’s beneficial to both of us.”

“She might use it against you, a form of blackmail.”

“Eun-chan, why are you so negative? Akane-san and I are friends.”

“…”

“You’re safe with me. It’s fine.”

Safe…

I’m safe with her.

“You know… Kenji said the same thing once.”

I laughed.

“Is that so?”

So I don’t know if I could depend on such a reassurance. Because I was a lot more dangerous to myself than I could’ve imagined.

Ring~

Interrupting our conversation, the restaurant’s first customers arrived.

“Are you going to help around the restaurant today?”

“Yes. I don’t want to be wasted baggage.”

“You’re not wasted baggage… well, give it your best shot. If you need anything, I’ll be around the kitchen.”

“Okay.”

And so the work day began.

“To table 3.”

“A new order from table 5, take a look.”

“Don’t forget to make the missed omelettes for table 6!”

“EiYun-chan, pass this to table 2 will you?”

“Alright…!”

Intermittently, I’ve been helping out as the waiter for the past few weeks. But I still hadn’t gotten used to the flow of things.

There were a lot of things to memorise. Like understanding the shorthand of certain menu items, and the ability to remember all present customers and their orders for payment.

“Your meal, miss.”

“It’s quite busy today isn’t it?”

“Sure is.”

The client laughed as I served her food. I didn’t pause too long as the next table had just cleared. I quickly assisted Ms. YiChen who pulled the cleaning trolley over.

Dirty plates were arranged in the lower baskets, and cups placed on the upper. Utensils were divided into two smaller buckets, and trash had to be sorted into food waste and recyclable waste.

I wiped the table with a wet cloth after Ms. YiChen cleared the plates from the table. Lunch rush hour passed quickly.

“Wheewh. Today was harsh.”

“I wonder why today especially.”

“Maybe it’s because people are coming back home to celebrate Remembrance Day.”

“Oh yeah, that’s tomorrow isn’t it?”

“When are you going to pay a visit to the cemetery?”

“Me? I suppose tomorrow.”

“I’m thinking today, right after the shift.”

“What?”

“The monastery will be packed on the day itself. I don’t want to squeeze in with the crowd.”

“It’s just saying our prayers, right? I’ve gone there on Remembrance Day, but it wasn’t actually that crowded.”

The conversations played out between the waiters.

Remembrance Day.

It was a solemn occasion to honour the fallen soldiers who have given their lives in the ongoing battle against the monsters from below.

On this special day, the priests and priestesses would offer hymns and prayers to the Gods for the safety of people and humanity. I listened in without adding an opinion.

Ring~

“Another customer.”

“I’ll take it.”

I left the counter and went to attend them.

“How many people today?”

I asked.

“Oh.”

The man in his cadet uniform looked surprised.

Auburn hair, a pair of olive eyes. He had the impression of an absolute greenhorn. I looked behind him. While he was a cadet, several high-ranking officials accompanied him.

This was my first time encountering a group like this.

“Twelve, in total.”

“Twelve?”

That’s a lot.

“The rest are on their way.”

“Okay…?”

“It would be best if we could have a large table for the small assembly we planned for today.”

We didn’t have tables that large. The largest could at most fit eight.

“Um, we don’t have a single table large enough to accommodate all twelve. Is it alright to split the tables? One eight, the other four?”

“Really? Uh, you know what? just help me call Rize-sama or DaHong-san. They’re around right?”

Rize… sama? Huh? Who is this person?

I was just about to panic when Ms. YiChen grabbed my shoulder from behind.

“Hey, TaeHyun-san, long time no see!”

“Ah, fuck. For a second there I thought I came to the wrong place. So she’s a new face?”

Tae-Hyun? Where had I heard his name before?

“Yep, she’s new. This is EiYun-san, and she’s working part-time, so what’s this all of a sudden?”

“I see… Ms. YiChen, I need a table for twelve. No splits.”

“Really now… shouldn’t you already know that we don’t have a seat so big.”

“That yes, but… isn’t there some way we could combine the tables?”

“That we’ll have to ask Rize-chan. Is this supposed to be some kind of important event? Why here?”

“It’s complicated. Major Shen asked me and Nana-chan for a favour, not like we could refuse can we now? Where is Rize-sama?”

“In the kitchen.”

“Let her know it’s Major Shen’s request for twelve.”

“Then you hold on.”

“???”

Ms. YiChen grabbed my hand and pulled me back into the restaurant.

“That there is TaeHyun. A cadet soldier that Rize-chan took care of. ”

“It’s my first time seeing him.”

“I suppose that shouldn’t come as a surprise—Rize-chan! TaeHyun-san is calling for you!”

“TaeHyun-kun?! Where?!”

Rize-chan shouted back from the kitchen.

“He’s asking for a 12 seater. Apparently, he’s got a whole unit of high-ranking officials following him. He said something about Major Shen coming.”

“Gimme a sec!”

Passing the job to Mr. Chow, Rize-chan took to the entrance.

“TaeHyun-kun! It’s been so long!”

“Rize-sama, hope you’ve been well.”

“Yes, yes. Now tell them to come in, I’ve got just the place… geh. Monkey man is here.”

“Who are you calling monkey man huh? Black chibi.”

Mr. Ng HouZi snorted. I hadn’t noticed him.

“So she’s the Black Siren?”

“She’s just a child.”

“Can’t judge one by their looks eh?”

While the gossiping of some of the officers continued, Rize-chan led them to their tables. She had us bring over extra chairs to extend the seats.

The other customers that were having their meals were frightened by the sudden visit of these people.

Soldiers of humanity—there are even a few lieutenants here.

“Ms. Tatsuki Rize, I take it?”

“Yes, that’s me, lieutenant.”

“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Lieutenant Ku Ryouko.”

“I’m Tatsuki Rize. CEO of this restaurant. The pleasure is mine.”

“Pfft… you amuse me.”

Just what is this…

“I’ve heard rumours but… to think that you’re actually a child.”

They were rather… lively.

“So what’s the occasion for the sudden visit? And where’s Nana-chan?”

Rize-chan asked.

“Uh well, the major asked me and Nana-chan to arrange a luncheon here at this restaurant on short notice so…”

“Then you should’ve made a booking. This is not a conducive place to hold official meetings, I’ll let you know. There are prying eyes everywhere.”

“Don’t be too harsh on him Ms. Black Siren. The major’s intentions are light. She made the plan to come earlier this morning. As for the details… she’ll talk to you about it when she arrives. If possible, I would ask that you free some of your evening time.”

“Seriously… that woman has no shame.”

“You’d… talk about the major like that? What were you taught in the military? Makes me doubt if you were actually disciplined properly.”

The air in the room seemed to drop as one of the lieutenants challenged her smile with disdain.

Rize-chan coughed.

“I’m not up for a war of words, so I’ll just let Monkey Face explain.”

“You fucker…”

“Gahahaha! She called you Monkey Face Mr. Houzi!”

“Everyone, please keep words to yourselves. Major ordered us to treat her with respect.”

“Dear hyung, always playing the straight man.”

“Tsk.”

“Shut it guys. You’re being an absolute disgrace! The major clearly told us to respect…”

Ring~

The soldiers and officers quickly stood up abruptly.

“““Greetings to Major Shen.”””

Major Shen… no, Wang GohJi. Long white ash hair, cunning eyes the shade of toxic purple.

The pressure she was emitting from her presence alone… I felt myself trembling unconsciously.

“Apologies for the intrusion.”

She said, likely referring to the other customers of the restaurant.

She can’t find out about me.

“Cadet Kazuo Nana, Cadet TaeHyun. You two have done well. Feel free to join today’s luncheon, otherwise, you may be dismissed.”

““Yes Major!””

“It’s been a while, Major Wang.”

“Hasn’t it only been two weeks at most since our last visit, Ms. Tatsuki?”

“That’s that. Luckily for you, I’m working the kitchen today so I’ll personally make the dishes. Place your orders quickly.”

“What an honour. Hopefully, your confidence doesn’t precede your skill.”

“Oh, I’m sure I won’t disappoint.”

Rize-chan showed a confident grin.

“Good.”

She said with a smile

“I like people like you.”

She… Major Wang actually smiled? I felt chills envelop my whole body.

◜\⌝▫◆▫.

The meals were handled in silence, only the sound of utensils and plates were heard. The air of the restaurant was weirdly stiff.

“It was a good meal.”

Major Wang said. It was clear to anyone who observed, that Rize-chan’s cooking managed to win their hearts.

“Yay~”

Rize-chan personally took the role of attendee, playing both the waiter and chef.

I listened to their conversation from behind the kitchen.

“What do you think of the food?”

“Certainly, it’s good.”

“I struggle to believe that this is the work of a child.”

“Hey, how old are you? I heard you’re not even fifteen?”

I heard the sound of the dragging chair. Major Wang suddenly stood up and came beside Rize-chan.

“I suppose I should introduce her to those unaware.”

Major Wang began…

“Tatsuki Rize. The one whom rumours speak of as the Black Siren, First Sergeant Hai Aki’s right-hand woman. Her crowning achievements include the successful completion of several critical missions in part of Project Sink, which includes plunging Shibaraki District and succeeding in a rescue operation of over a hundred soldiers against a Leviathan. As of most recent…”

Whilst ending the life of The Harbinger of Death, defended Fortress 13 from a Category 5 Cloud Hive.

My legs grew weak. My head spun.

“Major Wang, you know that the one who ended her life was herself right?”

“Oh, is that so?”

“She killed herself. I was only there to witness it.”

“Still, plenty of an achievement nonetheless. Furthermore, allow me to speak for Staff Sergeant Chu’s sacrifice. My condolences.”

“Mn… I’m sure she’s fine with her decision.”

Ms. YiChen touched my shoulders. I flinched.

“EiYun-chan… are you okay?”

“Ah?”

“You look pale…”

“D-Do I…”

“I know it’s uncomfortable being here with so many soldiers around so, why not go in and take a break?”

“I-I think I’ll do that… thank you…”

“Ms. Tatsuki, I thank you sincerely for ending her life.”

That accursed woman who killed my son and daughter.